The report found male-dominated jobs that do not require higher education still often pay more than the kinds of jobs mostly taken up by women.

Brick masons and block masons, for example, earn an average of $45,410 a year, the study found, while administrative assistants and secretaries typically get $34,660 a year.

"These sobering statistics matter," the report concludes. "Women comprise nearly half of our workforce, and many women are the primary breadwinners for their families.... When women are short-changed, their personal financial stability suffers and their families suffer."